When Life Strikes the President

M.J. Birkner, CHOICE All the essays are worthy, though two of them, Jeremi Suri's powerful account of Richard Nixon's depression as key to his increasingly erratic behavior and Daniel Feller's persuasive character study of Andrew Jackson, stand out....Highly recommended.

Robert E Gilbert, Congress & The Presidency As I emerge here, I regard this as an informative and rather provocative book. A number of its "case studies" truly come alive. The book should be read and discussed widely.

Steven Lomazow, H-FedHist [Presents] well-researched authoritative historical research as a platform that invites more professional analysis

Jeffrey A. Engel is Director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University. Thomas J. Knock is Professor of History and Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor of Foreign Relations at Southern Methodist University.

Introduction Jeffrey A. Engel and Thomas J. Knock 1 A Crisis of His Own Contrivance: Andrew Jackson's Break with John C. Calhoun Daniel Feller 2 "I am President:" John Tyler, Presidential Succession, the Crisis of Legitimacy, and the Defense of Presidential Power Aaron Scott Crawford 3 Personal Loss and Franklin Pierce's Presidency Michael Holt 4 Abraham Lincoln and the Death of His Son Willie Michael Burlingame 5 "One Long Wilderness of Despair": Woodrow Wilson's Stroke and the League of Nations Thomas J. Knock 6 Calvin Coolidge: "When he went the power and the glory of the Presidency went with him." Amity Shlaes 7 The Splendid Deception of "Doctor" Roosevelt Frank Costigliola 8 The Kennedy Family through Sickness and Death David Nasaw 9 The Politics of the Personal: Lyndon Johnson at Home and Abroad Randall B. Woods 10 A Depressed and Self-Destructive President: Richard Nixon in the White House Jeremi Suri 11 Governing during a Time of Crisis: The Reagan Presidency Kiron K. Skinner 12 The Clintons: The Politics of the Personal William Chafe